You have undoubtedly experienced days of waiting for your Social Security payment to arrive and it never did. For millions of households, Social Security (SSA) is their sole source of income.
Since Social Security is the primary source of income for retirees, we become quite anxious when payments are delayed or there are schedule abnormalities.
Where has our money gone? Here, we’ll explain what to do in the event that your payment is delayed and, more importantly, what you need to do to get your money back and prevent hassles.
Why are your payments delayed?
Your wallet may not have received your payment for a number of reasons, some of which are far more often than you may imagine:
- Problems with your bank: your bank may have withheld the funds because you have irregularities in your account or possible verifications that you have not yet performed.
- Social Security may have outdated information about you, which could result in payments being delayed (or never arriving at all)
- If you no longer qualify for the benefit you are applying for, Social Security will most likely take that benefit away
How do I make a claim?
Identifying the issues with your application is the first step in filing a claim. We can proceed to claim the payment once we have identified the issue.
- Talk to your bank: In most cases, as we have told you before, it will be a problem with the banks, so the first thing you have to do is check if your bank is withholding your funds. You must make sure that your bank account has no irregularities, there are no outstanding debts and that the bank details are up to date. If this process is fine, you can move on to the next step.
- Time to contact the Social Security Administration, you can go in person to a local office or call by phone, remember to have your Social Security number, the documents that support that you are eligible for that payment (such as statements of your bank accounts) or any notification you have received from this entity. They will investigate what is happening and will give you a solution to solve it!
And for the future, can I avoid delays?
Of course! Nothing is worse than waiting for something that never comes, therefore the following advice can help you prevent delays in the future:
- Make sure Social Security has your updated information, including addresses and bank details. If you change banks, notify them immediately so they can deposit your payments into the new account.
- Social Security payments have specific dates. Familiarize yourself with the schedule so you know when to expect your benefits. Remember that regular payments and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) do not always arrive on the same day.
- Check your bank account regularly to make sure everything is in order. If there are changes to your account or other payments, notify Social Security as soon as possible.
And remember not to wait too long when payments start to be delayed, the sooner you notify us, the sooner we can offer you a solution!